forbes.com Archives - 03 March 2013, Sunday

Mt. Gox grew to its current size before the strict regulatory framework advanced around them and they genuinely seem like a reluctant participant in the strenuous and exhausting labyrinth of compliance measures. Although a more free market approach would have been to establish banking...

The first post I ever wrote about Bitcoin was in April 2011. At the time, the crytpocurrency had recently surpassed parity with the dollar. I declared it a bubble, predicting that it would never displace conventional currencies, and that therefore it could never achieve a stable value...

Beachfront pool at the new Dorado Beach, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve. Photo: Ritz-Carlton Ritz-Carlton is one of the best-known luxury hospitality brands in the world, and has many loyal fans. But if there is one knock the company gets in deluxe travel circles, it is for being “too cookie ...

There are two separate arguments here and I’m not sure it makes sense to deal with them together so one day to say about the “cash and the poor” argument is that study after study, survey after survey, experience after experience shows unequivocally that people who are forced to exist...

Related:

Earlier today, the price of Bitcoins rose above $27 for the first time since 2011. That represents a doubling of the $13.50 price of Bitcoins at the start of 2013, which in turn, was nearly triple the $4.75 value of Bitcoins at the start of 2012. Of course, $27 is not an all-time reco...

Richter illustrates the ban’s impact with an example of purchasing a used car: “two crisp 500-euro bills and a single coin — voilà , an illegal transaction.” Used cars could easily cost more than €1,000 and accepting cash protects the seller, but the larger problem may be finding thos...

Today is “Sunday Political Tv”.Will they talk about “22 Veterans/Soldiers kill them selves Everyday”.I doubt it.How many other people “Commented on the subject Here at Forbes,not including Me?” = 2,wow 2 out of millions of U.S.Citizens .This is Us Veterans real “Catch 22″.Americans sa...

How To Spot A Fake Louis Vuitton: 10 Questions to Ask Train your eye to spot a counterfeit Louis Vuitton handbag by looking at the real thing in person – at a boutique or an authorized dealer. Susan Scafidi, who heads the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School, put these three ba...

I maintain that a government ban on bitcoin would be about as effective as alcohol prohibition was in the 1920s. Government prohibition doesn’t even do a good job of keeping drugs out of prisons. The demand for an item, in this case digital cash with user-defined levels of privacy, do...

With servers based in Ireland and operated by Erik Voorhees, SatoshiDice is considered a blockchain-based betting game and it is self-described as the “most popular Bitcoin game in the world.” Similar to random number generation, the site uses a method to produce a number between 0 an...

A drawn-out contest for control of Fraser & Neave , a Singapore -listed drinks-to-property group appears to be over. Last week Thai beer tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakti sweetened his bid for the company, in which he already holds a major stake. A deadline for the rival bidder, Indone...

The Chinese characters for "Hong Kong". (Photo credit: Wikipedia) On January 21 I returned from two weeks in Hong Kong and Singapore. The trip took 26 Babson College MBAs to visit with start-up CEOs, capital providers, and professors so they could learn about what it takes to start a ...

This article is about measuring value when looking to purchase a watch which is priced in the $7,000 – $10,000 range. The concept being that not all watches priced in the same class deliver “as much watch.” My suggestion is that consumers both educated and novice use what I call the “...

It’s going to be a big year for San Francisco . First, you will be able to see renowned artist Leo Villareal’s The Bay Lights sculpture unveiled on the Bay Bridge with the Grand Lighting on March 5. (It will display across the bridge’s west span for two years.) You’ll also want to hit...

Seems to me that PayPal has overstepped itself and put itself in the hot seat of legal responsibility that it should have fought harder to insulate itself from to start with. By taking on the watchdog position of policing everyone who uses their service they opened themselves to being...

They can sieze the .com but if the service is hosted outside the U.S., there’s less that can be done. Since the online casino operator doesn’t know from where the bitcoin wagers (or bitcoin deposit transactions) are sent, all these operators could do to comply would be to block IP tra...

I’ve never actually understood why adult Americans aren’t allowed to gamble their money online. It’s not as if gambling itself, or poker, or even losing money, is illegal across the US. There are plenty of places where you are allowed, nay encouraged, to do this. But given that laws h...

How To Spot A Fake Louis Vuitton: 10 Questions to Ask Train your eye to spot a counterfeit Louis Vuitton handbag by looking at the real thing in person – at a boutique or an authorized dealer. Susan Scafidi, who heads the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School, put these three ba...

Cris Zander, owner of a San Francisco consignment shop, holds what looks like a gently used Louis Vuitton handbag. But is it real? Photo: Wendy S. Goffe Let’s say you have some spare cash after the holidays (maybe from an unwanted gift you returned) and would like to treat yourself to...

Counterfeiting is a $600 billion dollar industry, according to International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, accounting for 7% of world trade. Some luxury purveyors have called it flattering to have their products copied, but others are not as amused. Fendi just won a $10.05 million se...

The Great Depression dealt a near-fatal blow to such common-sense thinking about prices and the price level. A new generation of economists became so obsessed with avoiding the bad kind of deflation that they all but forgot about the good kind. Followers of Keynes advocated inflationa...

The words Dorado Beach recall an era of glamorous travel in the 1960s, when the Hollywood elite, social jetsetters, and presidents like John F. Kennedy buzzed down to Puerto Rico for time in the sun. Just outside San Juan, Dorado Beach was the place to go after Laurance Rockefeller, a...

Burpple Pte. Ltd. , the Singapore-based startup behind the highly impressive food app for iPhone, has just obtained its first major funding of US$500,000, led by Neoteny Labs along with QuestVC. Both VCs are poised to strategically assist Burpple to expand its product functionality an...

While an individual’s bitcoin transactions may still be semi-private, the auditable address links on the block chain and identity requirements for entering or exiting the exchange will remove any doubt as to how much bitcoin was spent or earned. Also, the case can be made that, despit...

Related:

It is against the law to solicit U.S. persons to buy and sell commodity options, even if they are called ‘prediction’ contracts, unless they are listed for trading and traded on a CFTC-registered exchange or unless legally exempt. The requirement for on-exchange trading is important f...

Related:

Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down L.A. Auto Show Roundup: Electric Cars and Sports Cars Share Spotlight Matthew de Paula Contributor 6 Impressive New Cars for 2013 Matthew de Paula Contributor The 2014 Acura RLX made its debut at the L.A. Auto Show. It goes on sale in spring ...